


Too Cold

by NakuNakuNoMi



Series: NakuNakuNoMi's 2020 Winter Holidays [9]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other, i love this idiot demon, in series, no actual relationship, sebastian has a problem, with cats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28393269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NakuNakuNoMi/pseuds/NakuNakuNoMi
Summary: You got a job as a phantomhive servant. And A catsitter. Apparently.
Relationships: Sebastian Michaelis/Reader
Series: NakuNakuNoMi's 2020 Winter Holidays [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2065953
Kudos: 27





	Too Cold

Winter in England was your least favorite season. Cold and wet with a grey sky. Snow would either disappear immediately or stay long enough to turn into brown mush a few days later. It made everything wet and made the cold go all the way to your bones. You absolutely hated it.

There were lights, and a beautiful tree set up in the town square.Everywhere there were nobles and other families, much better off than you were, who would pull up in their carriages, wander around the markets, went for ice skating and then left again for their warm houses, carriages filled with expensive gifts they would delicately wrap and place under their trees. 

You… you had none of that. All alone, you were left wandering the streets most of the time. It was okay, you usually managed to pick up small jobs helping people out, but never long enough to establish a proper place to stay. You were used to it by now. But in the winter, it was worse.

This winter was a little different though, and you had no way to explain what had happened or how it had happened. One moment you were running through the city, desperately looking for some milk or something else to a nest of stray kittens you had found without their mother, and the next moment you and said kittens were in a manor, picked up by the strangest -yet most handsome- butler you had ever seen. 

It had all been quite a blurr, but from what you understood, the butler cared more for the cats than he did for you, but he wanted to take the cats in and since they seemed to be attached to you, you became part of the package. Your experience in helping out in people’s households came in handy as you were given a servant’s uniform and the following duties: help out the insanely incompetent house staff and take care of the cats. 

Which would all be fine. If it were not for you running around most of the time fixing all kinds of mistakes that the staff would make. You weren’t too sure who hired these people, but you were pretty sure that they were absolutely far from fit for their respective position. Then there was the young master, absolutely not happy with the fact that Sebastian, the main butler seemed to have hired an extra staff member without any permission, but for some reason he had managed to sell your skills somehow. Truly not a hard task if you compared your skills to those of the other personnel, but you figured they must have some kind of hidden talent that they were kept around and your arrival was disputed over. 

Then again, it didn’t take you long to figure out that all cat-related duties, which was most of them… were secret. Sebastian made it very clear -after you nearly spilled the beans- that everything related to the cats was to be dealt with away from the master, and preferably in a different set of clothes. He had allergies, Sebastian explained, but he really couldn’t find it in him to get rid of all the felines neatly hidden away in his bedroom. You were torn between thinking the situation hilarious and wildly appropriate. But if you had to choose between living on the cold streets of London with not even a little bit of certainty that you’d make it to the next week, or having a bed and food and a handful of chores of which half were secretly to be done in the bedroom of the most handsome butler you had ever seen? Indecent as it may have seemed, the decision was made quickly. 

And then one of the cats escaped. It was a stupid accident, clumsiness and an open door. You managed to close it in time before more of the furry creatures made a run for it, but you had to go after the one that got away in order to not lose your job. 

Of course, the cat was way faster than you were and within minutes you had lost sight of it as it ran into the garden and into the woods behind the manor. You kept following after it, through the garden, initially ignoring how the snow was seeping through your socks, ignoring just how cold it was and just how bad you were feeling. You ran and ran, trying to call out for the cat who was long gone by now. 

The moment you finally realized you were never going to get the cat, was also the moment you realized you were alone in the woods. Lost. It was freezing cold, and you had no way of finding your way back. And hadn’t the young master earlier mentioned something about bears? You were shivering now. The cold and the fear slowly overcoming you as you realized it was slowly getting dark as well… What were you going to do?

You weren’t sure just how long you were wondering around in the woods when you heard your name called closeby. When you turned to the sound, you were surprised to see Sebastian standing there. His expression was unreadable as he asked you what you were doing in the forest. You tried to explain that the cat had gotten away, that you had run after it, but ended up not finding it in the end. You were trying your utmost best not to get upset as you told it, but you knew better than anyone that such a mistake would be enough to lose your job. 

So imagine your surprise when Sebastian didn’t get mad, although he looked a little disappointed at the loss of one of his precious felines, but carried you all the way back instead. He picked you up with unnatural ease, and you were beyond embarrassed, but too cold and shocked to even protest. Before you knew it you were in your room, fresh clothes at the ready and the instructions to go make yourself some tea before bed.

You met Sebastian in the kitchen as he was preparing the young master’s evening tea and you asked him why he hadn’t fired you. You could’ve sworn you saw a red glint in his eyes and his smile, although friendly, gave you goosebumps as he spoke:    
  
“I think you will prove to be a valuable asset to our manor sometime soon.” 


End file.
